


Forever Connected: Prologue

by NobodyOfLight



Series: Forever Connected AU [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Developing Friendships, I love these dorks, M/M, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prologue, Soul Bonding but with lucky charms involved, Two friends being very happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26670853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NobodyOfLight/pseuds/NobodyOfLight
Summary: This story is told before the events of the War and the main story of this AU.Here, you'll know more about Gadget and Orion's past and what to expect next.
Relationships: Avatar | Custom Hero (Sonic Forces) & Infinite (Sonic the Hedgehog), Avatar | Custom Hero (Sonic Forces)/Infinite (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Series: Forever Connected AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903396
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Gadget Side - Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! Sorry for not posting, I've been in an awful writing block, but now I'm back.
> 
> As you read in the summary, this story takes place before the main story, and it will be told from the perspective of the two characters, but one of them is continuing the story. There's also a lot of fanon content, since I'm doing an AU.
> 
> Aside from what I'm going to show along the way, that's all I needed to inform, so I hope you enjoy!

It was an average sunny day at Vesper Town.

A bright blue sky with big fluffy clouds, a pleasant breeze getting by, and tons of citizens doing their own things, like buying groceries, eating at the local food places, people picking the train station to go to work, kids nearby playing at the square, just the usual, it was a small town, after all.

From one of the houses, a young mobian, a red wolf called Gadget, to be more precise, left his house and observed his surroundings, as well as the beautiful horizon above him. With such a nice weather like this, it would be a perfect day to go outside.

The boy got inside his home for a second, before calling his mother.

"Mom! Can I go outside and take a stroll on the forest?" He questioned, his tail swaying side to side by the anxiety to hear her answer.

"Sure, sweetheart! But your father and I are already cooking for lunch, so be sure to come back in time, and take care while you go there." She spoke as she came from the kitchen holding a bowl and a spoon, presumably mixing something. 

"He'll be fine, Candy, the forest isn't that dangerous." Gadget's father, Arch, intervened, trying to calm his wife.

Candy's a female wolf and has a crimson colored fur just like his son, except that is a bit darker. Arch is also a wolf, but his fur has a teal color, and has a more grayish tone compared to their other son, Gears, who was probably at the park playing with the other kids at the moment.

"I know, I just can't help to be worried about Gadget..." The wolf mother frowned as she looked at her kit, being a little overprotective is a common trait of her.

"It's okay, Mom, I'm going to take care, promise!" The young canine affirmed and let out a big smile.

"All right, have fun around there, sweetie." She put the bowl at the kitchen counter and approached the boy, giving a kiss on his forehead.

Gadget giggled at the action, before responding.

"Bye, mom!" He then darted towards the outside and closed the door of his home, now heading to the forest.

* * *

Although Gadget was more likely to stay indoors helping his father with his inventions, since he was very introverted and wasn't very fond of playing with the other children along with his brother, he liked to walk around the forest and observe the nature.

The wind softly passing through the trees and bushes, making them rustle, the enjoyable weather, the only sounds filling the environment being a nearby river that debouched in a lake; to the wolf, everything was a moment to appreciate.

He didn't really plan what he was going to do today, but he wondered if he could go further into the forest this time, seeing that he only stayed close to the path that leads back to town. A sudden need to see what lies beyond those trees was getting to him.

The young boy is very curious about things, and by that, it means a lot of curiosity, which is why he's so fascinated by his father's job as an inventor. One day, he wants to be able to make his own creations like the older wolf.

Gadget was walking ahead into the woods and carefreely whistling, enjoying the beautiful green scenery.

This moment of calm unfortunately came to an end when he heard something move in the bushes. He instantly froze in place and his heart raced faster than any hedgehog.

"H-hello? Someone th-there?" He bluntly questioned to the nothingness hoping that a monster wasn't hiding and preparing to attack him on sight.

More rustling of the bushes could be heard, and the boy started to panic, he probably shouldn't have gone further into the grove like that, now he was regretting every second of it.

The wolf took a few steps back, trying to not startle whatever that was near him, then he started to run with all that he had, believing that he could escape before the mysterious thing caught him, however, a root that was growing out of the ground interrupted him midway, and he fell.

To the red hound's misfortune, his glasses flew from his face by the fall, and the impact left a bruise on his knee, with the pain he felt in that area, he probably couldn't run or either walk properly, so he was cornered. The leaves shook one more time, and now tears were forming on his eyes as he breathed quickly, fear totally taking control of him.

That was it, that was his end...

...Or maybe _very_ far from that, honestly.

From the bushes, a young jackal came out, and he looked at the other boy that was lying on the dirt.

"Hey! Are you okay?! That was a hard fall!" He spoke, kneeling and approaching the astonished canine, who flinched, since he still was a bit scared.

"Relax, I won't hurt you. Oh! Your glasses." He said as he picked the spectacles and put on Gadget's face.

"Better now?" The mysterious kid asked, and now the wolf could see him well. He was a black jackal, with white hair, muzzle and chest fur, as well as a fluffy tail, but his most remarkable feature was his eyes. His right eye was blue, and the left eye was yellow.

"Y-yeah, thanks." He said after stopping analyzing the boy who smiled at the answer, he tried to stand up, but the bruise on his knee was making it difficult.

The other must have noticed that he was struggling, so he intervened.

"Wait, don't push yourself! That wound looks terrible. Stay here for a second, I will bring something to treat that." He spoke, as the red mobian nodded.

The jackal went into the trees where he came from, and after a minute or two, he came back with some leaves.

The crimson canine looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Why did you brought leaves?" He asked, clearly not understanding what was going on.

"The leaves from the trees that grow around here are used as medicine, and just by patching a bruise with it can do the trick." The other one replied. He picked some of the foliage and put around Gadget's bruise, then used the other part to wrap around it, making a knot.

Surprisingly, it was patched up very well, even the wolf was surprised by that.

"Now it's done, let me help you stand up." The black mobian spoke before helding out his hand, the young boy complied, giving his hand and standing up with his help.

"Thank you, um... We haven't really introduced ourselves, right?" He giggled, embarrassed by the fact he hurt himself for being too scared.

The jackal chuckled as well, before speaking.

"Anyways, I'm Orion. And you?" He questioned.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Gadget." The wolf replied excitedly and with a smile.

"What were you doing around here, Gadget?" Orion curiously interrogated, it was very rare to see a new face close by.

"Oh, right! I was just walking and exploring, I'm from the town nearby, but I haven't been so further into the woods. Then I bumped into you, thinking there was a monster in the forest." The wolf responded, slightly cringing at the scene from some time ago.

"I see, I came from more afar, right from the desert that is past the forest. If you haven't been around often, I know a very cool place that's not far from here, you wanna see?" The other canid said, quite enthusiastic to show this location to a new person, at this point, it could even be said they were newly known friends.

"Really? That sounds fun!" Gadget stated, almost as excited as his new companion.

Then they agreed to go to said spot.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, they arrived. Fortunately, Gadget's bruise wasn't hurting as much as it was when he fell.

It was a big field with tons of flowers growing around, as well as a big tree in the center of it. That place felt like it was taken from a fantasy film, the atmosphere being so serene and yet so mysterious complemented that.

"Wow...this place is beautiful!" The red canine's eyes shined at the sight, he was really amazed by everything.

"I know, right? Since no one but me knows about this place, I decided to make it my secret spot, so I can have some time for myself." Orion spoke, while sitting down on the grassy field.

"Seriously?! This is so cool!" The wolf couldn't hide his excitement, sitting down as well."

"Well, it can be your secret spot too, I mean, we're friends now, right?" The jackal said, before turning his head to the wolf.

"Are we? I didn't thought too much on that." Gadget rubbed the back of his head as he laughed.

The other couldn't help but laugh as well, until he continued.

"Of course we are, I helped you back there, and here we are talking to each other."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm happy to be your new friend, Orion." The red mobian smiled as held out his hand, the ebony canine got the message and shook it.

"I'm happy as well, Gadget." He replied, also smiling.

The wolf immediately remembered about something he promised to his mother, then he jumped from where he was seating.

"Oh shoot!" He exclaimed

"Huh?! What's wrong?" Orion questioned.

"I totally forgot I told my mom I would be back for lunch!" The crimson hound stated. Everything passed so quickly that he lost the notion of time.

"Aw, do you have to go home just now?" The jackal asked with a bummed expression.

"I'll try to talk to her, I'm mostly sure that I will come back!" Gadget said in a quite determined tone.

"Okay then, probably it's time for me to lunch too. So see you later!" He waved goodbye to the wolf.

"See ya!" The other one waved goodbye as well.

Surely, there's something else about these two.


	2. Gadget Side - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! A new chapter is knocking at your door!
> 
> Before you start reading, I just want so say something. Since this chapter was way long than I expected, I had to break it down by two parts (and it's still kinda long but yeah), the last and third part would focus on some timeskips and story progression, so stay tuned for updates.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the reading!

The door to Gadget's house opened and slightly creaked, as he came inside, taking off his shoes and putting them near the closet on the hallway before going anywhere.

"Mom! I'm back!" He exclaimed, as his mother came from the dining room.

"You arrived right on time, sweetie!" Candy said as she approached his son to greet him, but then she noticed the leaves tied in his leg and how dirty he was.

"Oh my! What's happened?! Did you get hurt out there?!" The female canine desperately questioned as she stopped everything she was doing to check up on his kit.

"I'm okay, Mom, I just scraped my knee, that's all." The young boy innocently stated, as a wide grin spread on his face.

"Yeah, you're okay, but you need to take more care when going outside, Gadget." His mother said, patting the red wolf's head.

"Anyway, go wash yourself, lunch is already served." She added, while she went back to the room

After cleaning the dirt and adjusting the leaf knot on his knee, he quickly went downstairs, going straight to the room, meeting his father and his younger brother, who also came back from playing outside. 

The table was already prepared, plates, cutlery and glasses arranged in their respective places, and on each plate, a portion of rice, which would accompany the main dish.

"Big brother!" Gears shouted as he rushed into the wolf to give him a hug.

"Hey, Gears." Gadget said, hugging him back.

"So, Gadget, how was the exploring in the forest? I see you had quite an adventure." Arch commented, referring to his kid's bruised leg, while the latter and the younger brother settled themselves on the dining table.

"Well, it wasn't _really_ an adventure, Dad, I ended up tripping on a root and I bruised my knee. But my new friend helped me!" He said, his tail wagging in excitement.

"A friend?" The wolf mother curiously asked, as she also sits down on the table, bringing a pan with today's meal: Curry. While they were talking, she picked a ladle and put the food on their plates.

"Yes, his name is Orion, and he's very cool! He even treated my wound using these leaves that people use for medicine!" The young red canine happily replied, it hasn't sunk for him yet that he just made a friend on his own.

"Orion...I don't recognize it. Does he live around here?" Gears asked with a confused expression on his face since he practically knew all the kids that were living in town, so a new one shouldn't be very hard to notice.

"No, he lives in the desert, past the forest." Gadget replied, as he took a spoonful of the curry with rice and ate it.

"The desert? He must probably be from the village that habits there. I already went there looking for pieces for my inventions." His father said, remembering very well about how awfully hot was there, as he took a taste from the food as well.

"I'm very happy to hear that you made a new friend, sweetheart. You should invite him to come over some time." Candy stated, smiling at his son.

"Thanks, Mom." The red wolf said, a bit embarrassed from it, before continuing.

"Also, can I go back to play more with him, please? We didn't get to do much since I had to come back for lunch." He asked, with a pleading face.

"I can't see why not, but you have to finish your meal." She affirmed, then proceeded to eat her dish.

"Yay!" Gadget exclaimed, and after that, the lunch followed silently, yet in a very joyful mood, something that was daily at the wolf family's house.

* * *

The red wolf went back to the secret hideout in the forest after a delicious meal. He sat and lied himself on the tree, waiting for his friend to appear.

Little did he know, is that Orion was already there, sitting on one of the tree branches. The jackal noticed he had arrived, then jumped out of the limb, planning to do a surprise attack.

"Hey, Gadget!" He said, as he landed on the ground.

Gadget could only yelp in reply, startled by the sudden appearance.

"D-don't jump on me like that!" The canine shouted, receiving a fit of laughter from the onyx canid in return.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!" He answered, still laughing before he got lightly punched in his arm, luckily, it wasn't strong enough to hurt.

"Since you're here, that means you talked to your parents, I take it." Orion spoke again, while looking at the crimson hound.

"Yep, my mother said I can play with you for the rest of the day!" Gadget affirmed, almost jumping from happiness.

"Cool! That's enough time for us to have fun!" The ebony canine exclaimed, before speaking again.

"So, what do you want do to now, **Gadgey**?" The jackal asked, blurting out the wolf's name in a different way.

" _Gadgey_? Where did that come from?" The ruby mobian questioned, yet he was confused by that name, he didn't really mind, mostly, he was curious.

"Oh, well, I thought it would be nice to call you by a nickname. It's a thing that friends do, right?" Orion said, smiling at the young wolf.

"Huh. I guess you're right. But it isn't fair that I'm the only one with a nickname! I should call you something too. Hmm...how about..." Gagdet hummed, thinking about what nickname should be given to his friend. And then, he snapped his fingers, as an idea popped up in his head.

" **Ori**! How about it?" He interrogated, his tail swishing from side to side as he waited for an answer.

"That's perfect! Now we both have nicknames, as every good couple of friends should." The jackal puffed his chest and put his arms on each side of his torso as he said that, looking very confident, like some sort of superhero would.

He stayed like that for some seconds, before he and the young wolf began to laugh, due to that pose being so silly and stupid.

"Anyway, let's play!" Orion shouted, and Gadget joyfully nodded. 

So, they proceeded to spend the rest of the day playing whatever they felt like it. Racing around the forest, hide-and-seek, a very safe sword fight with dry and old sticks that were lying around there, anything that kids would usually do.

* * *

It passed a very long while, and now they were laying in the big flower field, giving a break from playing. An orange tone filled the sky above them, and a soft breeze was getting to their fur. It was a very comfortable silence, but then the jackal got up and poked the wolf.

"Hey, Gadgey, we can see the sunset better if we climb up the tree." He said, not holding the enthusiasm in his voice.

The ruby canine's ear twitched as he heard his friend's idea and got up too.

"That sounds great! But I never climbed a tree before, isn't it dangerous?" He questioned, a little uncertain about doing this.

"It'll be fine, I'll help you climb it, and I promise I won't let you fall." The ebony canid answered, reassuring the red one.

"Well, if you say so...let's do it!" The young hound walked to the tree, waiting for his friend to come along and assist him on their little hike.

Orion then picked Gadget's hands and put them on the trunk, as he began to talk about the basics.

"Okay, first, you have to firmly grasp your both hands on the tree, and try to take a steady position as you put your feet as well, then you push yourself up with one hand at a time, this also goes for the feet. Keep doing this and you will climb it in a blink of an eye!" The young jackal instructed.

The red wolf did exactly as he was told, one hand and feet at a time, and when he realized it, he was getting higher and higher.

The onyx canine started to cheer him up from down below.

"That's the spirit, Gadgey! Keep going!" He exclaimed, starting to ride up as well.

"This is so fun! I should've done this before!" The ruby canid exclaimed, before resuming his action.

After some time going up and some slip ups the crimson mobian did that almost gave the black jackal a heart attack, they arrived at the top, sitting down on the sturdy branches that rested there.

What they saw at the horizon couldn't be described into words, it was just the most beautiful and mesmerizing sunset they ever gazed upon.

The only thing the both of them could say was "Wow!", as they relaxed themselves by the refreshing wind that swirled on them.

Gadget was thinking about how glad he was for having met his new friend and that he helped him, or else he wouldn't be able to do such a crazy thing as climbing a big tree. 

He turned around to look at Orion and saw his mismatched eyes reflecting the sunlight, while he stared into the distance with a light smile.

"Hey." The wolf broke the silence, the jackal's ear twitched and he directed his gaze to him.

"What is it?" He questioned, with his attention on him

"I like how your eyes have different colors, it's pretty." The red mobian said, as an unnoticed smile crept on his face.

"Oh, um, thanks..." The young black canine replied, a bit embarrassed by that.

"People don't say that often to me, generally they just stare at me with a strange face, just because of my eyes." He added, feeling a bit down from remembering the times he received glares at the village.

"Really? That's so sad, they don't know how you're special!" The ruby hound affirmed, in an attempt to cheer his friend up.

"Huh?" Orion questioned.

"Yeah, there's a man who works in the jewelry store in town, he has different colored eyes just like you. He told me that people like that are special, not weird." Gadget stated, with a very dorky grin, he really was something else when he needed to make someone happy.

"Special, huh? Haven't thought in that way..." The young boy mumbled. He definitely didn't expect to be called "special" when everyone appeared to tell him otherwise, the wolf really changed how he saw things.

"Anyways, I think we should talk more about ourselves, like what we like to do and stuff." He continued. They barely know that much about each other since they just met today, and now that they were sitting on that tree, it was the perfect time for it.

"Sure, I'll go first. How old are you?" The red canine asked, and the onyx jackal replied right after he finished talking.

"I'm 8 years old, but I'll be 9 next month." 

"Oh, we're around the same age then!" Gadget said, he couldn't help but be excited, as his tail wagged nonstop. 

"Nice! Now I ask: What's your family like? Do you have any siblings?" Orion interrogated.

"Well, there's me, my parents and my younger brother. How about you?" The crimson wolf replied, his curiosity started to take over him.

"I live with my dad, some relatives and my four siblings." The black jackal affirmed, which was enough to make the red canine's jaw drop.

"Four?!" He shouted, which made the ebony mobian chuckle.

"I knew you'd react like that, but it's because of my family's business, it demands a lot of people." The onyx canid said, almost bragging, to say the least.

"What does your family do?" The ruby hound asked.

"We're..." Orion stopped midway, hesitant in telling Gadget about his family's way of living.

"Adventurers! Yeah, I came from a family of adventurers!" He said. Making up something like that would be less troubling than telling the truth, at least for now.

"WHAAAAAAT!? THAT'S SO AWESOME!" The wolf shouted, clearly pumped up about that information.

"Y-yeah, it sure is! Does your family do anything?" The young jackal asked, trying to change the direction of the conversation.

"My mom used to work selling homemade perfumes, but now she just stays at home taking care of us, but she's very good at it. And my dad is a great inventor, he even got some prizes because of his creations!" The red canine exclaimed, he admired his father very much, and appreciated his mother's efforts in being there for him and his brother, that was evident.

"Wow, that's cool!" The black canid responded.

"You think so?" The crimson hound questioned, with a very insecure face, he probably thought for a moment that his friend wouldn't be thrilled about his life, but he was proven wrong, fortunately.

"Of course! I mean, you have to be very smart and skilled to be an inventor, right?" Orion replied, making Gadget's feeling subside in a snap of fingers.

"You're right, and one day, I'll be just as cool as him." The ruby canine said, with a determined tone and expression on his face, as he gazed into the orange tinted sky in front of him.

"So this is your dream, huh?" The ebony jackal asked, feeling happy with the wolf's excitement.

"Yep, what about you?" He answered, turning his look to the other canine.

"My dad wants me to lead our group someday, so I've been training with him most of the time. And I guess that's what I really want, to be strong, just like him." The black mobian said, laying down on the tree leaves as he looked up to the horizon as well.

"I see, that's pretty nice too! But what do you mean with _training_?" The young hound questioned, a bit confused.

"We don't just go around and explore, sometimes we end up having to fight some bad guys, so we have to be prepared." Orion said, while lifting a finger, making him sound a bit more serious than before, but that didn't make the ruby canid less enthusiastic.

"Geez, that must be soooooo amazing! You're almost like a hero!" Gadget said, his eyes were almost glowing of how impressed he was.

"Heh, yeah, like a hero..." The jackal mumbled, feeling a bit down for not having how to tell him the true story, but that would have to wait, unfortunately.

A minute or two had passed, and they were in a comfortable silence once again, but the red wolf began to speak.

"I'm glad I had to learn more about you, Ori." He smiled at the ebony canine, and he mirrored his expression.

"Me too, Gadgey." He replied, as he got up and sat down once again on the branch.

"You know, I haven't really had any friends, I mean, I played with the kids in town, but I don't really talk to them, this is more of my brother's thing. You're the first real friend that I have ever had." The young mobian affirmed, fidgeting with his fingers as he gazed into the distance.

"I can say the same, apart from my siblings, I didn't have anyone to talk to, until you showed up." Orion responded.

"From now on, we'll be friends forever, right?" Gadget said, holding out a hand to his new friend, and the jackal didn't think twice before shaking it.

"Yeah, friends forever."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last dialogue was so fun to write, to be honest. I hope you guys liked it as much as I did!
> 
> Thank you once again for reading this far!
> 
> (And I also will try to post more frequently, lol)


End file.
